obverse

American  

[ob-vurs, ob-vurs, ob-vurs] / ˈɒb vɜrs, ɒbˈvɜrs, ˈɒb vɜrs /

noun

1. the side of a coin, medal, flag, etc., that bears the principal design (reverse ).

2. the front or principal surface of anything.

3. a counterpart.

4. Logic. a proposition obtained from another by obversion.

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adjective

1. facing the observer.

2. corresponding to something else as a counterpart.

3. having the base narrower than the top, as a leaf.

obverse British  

/ ˈɒbvɜːs /

adjective

1. facing or turned towards the observer

2. forming or serving as a counterpart

3. (of certain plant leaves) narrower at the base than at the top

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noun

1. a counterpart or complement

2. the side of a coin that bears the main design or device Compare reverse

3. logic a categorial proposition derived from another by replacing the original predicate by its negation and changing the proposition from affirmative to negative or vice versa, as no sum is correct from every sum is incorrect

Other Word Forms

• obversely adverb

Etymology

Origin of obverse

1650–60; < Latin obversus turned toward or against (past participle of obvertere ), equivalent to ob- ob- + vert ( ere ) to turn + -tus past participle suffix, with tt > s

Example Sentences

In October 2024, for the abolition quarter, the panel picked a Douglass image on the obverse, or front, and a reverse design showing a shackled hand and a fist breaking free.

From The Wall Street Journal

A Commonwealth observer group was also in the country to obverse the coming elections, seen as a "significant step in the country's democratic governance", they added.

From BBC

The coin also features an image of the late Queen Elizabeth II on its obverse side, and a UH-1H helicopter on the reverse.

From BBC

He is a week or so shy of 77 and when viewed in profile, he looks like the portrait they’d use if they put Neil Young’s face on the obverse of the loonie.

From Los Angeles Times

The obverse of art for Dyer is tennis.

From Los Angeles Times